When Narendra Modi was sworn in at the prime minister in 2014, the expectations were sky high. Two years later the expectations remain, but Modi appears to have slipped a bit. His ratings are still up, but nowhere near where they were last year. When you are high up in the air, the only place to go is down and that appears to have happened to the prime minister.
Of all the initiatives launched by him, the only one to have caught the imagination of the masses is ‘Swachh Bharat’. There are few takers for the ‘Make in India’ campaign or smart cities. Also, despite rejigging the parameters to show a higher growth rate, people are still concerned that the economy is lagging. The prime minister has not received high marks for creating jobs, one of the two issues that can bring down a government. The other one is price of onions.
Two years is a long enough time to judge where this government heading. It has been riding on luck for a long time, thanks to low crude oil prices and now the forecast of a good monsoon could see it through the third year. The dip in rating will impact on states that go to the polls in a year or so. Modi has to get back his mojo or he could miss his tryst with destiny.
